RESIDENTS IN Vale Fuzeiros, Silves, have filed a formal complaint against Silves Câmara for failing to follow legal protocols, when it approved electricity company REN’s plans to erect pylons through the area.
They allege that the environmental impact study was received by the câmara in June, 2006 but was never released. It is a legal requirement to make the results of the study public before a decision to approve a project is made.
This would normally give residents the opportunity to voice their opinions. However, these residents allege that they were not given this opportunity and said if they had the chance, they would have definitely expressed their opposition.
Residents are frustrated with the câmara’s lack of help, alleging that after three months of meetings, the only action the câmara took was to request an audience with the Secretary of State for Industry and Innovation, António Castro Guerra. This meeting has yet to take place.
Residents wrote to Guerra, the Minister for Economy and Innovation, Manuel Pinho, members of parliament, and even Prime Minister José Sócrates, to complain about Silves Câmara’s actions.
REN has already begun to erect pylons in São Bartolomeu de Messines, north of Vale Fuzeiros. Residents believe that the project is necessary but want the route to be altered back to the original route that REN proposed.
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